


you're as sick as you are lovely and in need of a hand

by WarriorOfTheLight



Category: Warrior Nun (TV)
Genre: F/F, I have no idea i'm just soft for these misfits, Post Season 1, rated M for future chapters, slowburn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-27
Updated: 2020-08-09
Packaged: 2021-03-06 06:53:35
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,291
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25559140
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WarriorOfTheLight/pseuds/WarriorOfTheLight
Summary: 'we're living in a den of thieves, rummaging for answers in the pages'Times have changed with Adriel's release and things are so much bigger than anyone could have realised.
Relationships: Sister Beatrice/Ava Silva
Comments: 20
Kudos: 220





	1. Isaiah 40:29-31

**Author's Note:**

> 'He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength'

Ava awoke in a familiar room, surprised to find herself staring at the ceiling of Sister Shannon’s old room. How did she get here? She couldn’t remember what had happened? It was all too familiar: waking up with no memory of how she got where she was, and not in a good way. The last thing she remembered was… _Adriel_. Gasping, Ava tried to move, horrified when her body didn't cooperate.

_No no no no no no this can’t be happening!_ Her heart stuttered in alarm.

Struggling to fight down her panic at being paralysed again she focused on her breathing, almost choking when it seemed to stick in her chest. What had happened? Had Adriel taken the Halo? Where was everybody? Where was _anybody_?

No. She had to remain calm. If she was here, then surely someone must have brought her, right?

Releasing a deep breath, Ava focused on the little things - the familiar musty smell of the Cat’s Cradle, the warm light bathing the room, on flexing a finger, the one she could move when she had been paralysed. Slowly, it began to move, a twitch at first before she could lift it and then curl it. Success. Only nine more to go. She sighed and focused on the whole hand next, the weight slowly lifting off her chest as she made a fist. By the time she had managed to sit up, her head was swimming and she wondered if she was going to pass out or vomit.

_Both. It might be both_.

“You’re awake!” Camila bustled into the room suddenly and Ava jumped. She hadn’t even heard her approaching.

“Ugh. Good morning?” she rasped, suddenly aware of how thirsty she was.

“Here.” Camila passed her a cup of water. Ava didn’t care that it was warm and mildly stale as she downed it, choking slightly. “Not all at once, you’ll be sick.” Camila took the cup from Ava’s hands, ignoring the other girl’s pout as she did.

“What happened?”

Camila paused, a frown marring her usually innocent features. Camila was one of the newer Warrior Nuns and often wore her heart on, well, her face, and Ava worried what she wasn’t telling her.

“You don’t remember? I should get the others.” _Yep. Definitely hiding something_.

“Wait. I’ll go with you.” Ava made to move and slipped from the bed, landing on her side with an ‘oof’. 

Camila was by her side in an instant, pulling her into a sitting position. “You shouldn’t try to move yet. Your body will be weak, you don't want to hurt yourself more by overdoing it.”

“I’m ok.” Ava assured her. “I’ve spent enough of my life in a bed…” 

With Camila’s help, they managed to get Ava up and dressed, donning the familiar dark cottons of the Cat’s Cradle. Once she’d been up and moving, she found her body more cooperative and managed to walk beside Camila, rather than being supported by her. Ava hadn’t paid any attention which direction they were headed and only when they had stopped outside of what had been Father Vincent’s office, did she realise where they were. 

“Why-” 

Camila shushed her and knocked before entering.

“Mother Superion I- oh I thought the other sisters would still be here…?”

The woman in question looked up from the array of papers scattered across the desk, a single eyebrow twitching up, but otherwise giving no inclination of her thoughts at seeing Ava. 

“You’re awake,” she stated, eyes flicking back to the papers before her. “Sister Camila, would you be kind enough to fetch the others.”

“Of course, Mother Superion, but I should mention-”

“Now, sister.” Mother Superion’s tone left no room for argument and Camila scuttled out, still nervous of the elder woman. 

As the door closed, Mother Superion looked back down to the papers, not even acknowledging Ava was still there.

“So…” Ava broke the silence awkwardly. It wasn’t that she had anything to say in particular, but she had questions and wasn’t known for her patience. 

But Mother Superion silenced her with a single raised index finger. “We will speak when the sisters arrive, I do not wish to hear you babble any longer than necessary, and I do not wish to punish myself to sit through what you might say twice.”

Ava blinked, a small smile playing at the corners of her mouth. Yes, she knew the elder’s past with the Halo, and they had even shared a moment of solidarity, of compassion, but that didn’t stop Mother Superion from being her usual grisled self. 

Sighing, Ava settled back into her seat, shifting uncomfortably. Something definitely felt different, and as she flexed the muscles throughout her body, she realised that she could _feel_ the Halo. It almost felt heavier, warmer - she’d never been actively aware of it before, sure she had felt the scars, and the power from it, but not when sedentary. Now she felt it _there_ , part of her, yet something so entirely different. Something had changed and the combination of feeling the Halo and the nuns hiding something made Ava desperately uncomfortable. 

“She lives!” Mary grinned as she strode into the room, the other nuns of her little team following in her wake.

“You’re one to talk.” Ava smirked, “you were the one that went all gung ho back there.”

Mary shrugged as she plopped down into a seat and Ava smiled at the others, her eyes catching Beatrice’s for a moment longer, seeing relief and… something she couldn’t quite decipher in them.

“It is good to see you’re still not dead, yet.” Lilith said with a quirk of the lips.

Ava blinked before grinning. “You know, I’ll take that compliment with the back of the hand.”

Mary chuckled as Beatrice stepped behind them, positioning herself directly behind Ava, resting a hand on her shoulder, almost protectively. Ava, still welcoming the ability to feel anything below her neck, reached up and grasped Beatrice’s hand, rubbing her thumb over the back of her hand reassuringly. She smiled at Beatrice, glad to see the mask of indifference slip as a gentle smile graced her lips and her eyes shone warmly. 

Camila, on the other hand, was fidgeting nervously, watching as Mother Superion finished reading the sheet of paper in her hand. Patience was a virtue, but she was sure Mother Superion was taking an age to go through the single sheet.

Finally the elder looked up from her reading, catching Camila’s discomfort in an instant. “So what is it, Sister Camila? Why were you so desperate to speak to us all?”

As if a dam had broken, Camila burst out, “She doesn’t remember what happened!”

There was a beat, silence reverberating around the old walls. That hadn’t been the reaction Ava had expected. She had been unconscious, how could she remember what happened? 

Mary chuckled out a quiet “Oh Jesus” and Ava felt Beatrice’s hand tighten on her shoulder, her face betraying no emotion.

Lilith however looked sharply at Camila. “What do you mean she doesn’t remember?” she spun to face Ava, towering above the girl as she sat. “What does she mean you don’t remember?”

“I mean, I remember Adriel getting out, just not what happened next. How did we get back here? What happened? How long was I out?” _What aren’t you telling me?_

Everyone began to speak at once, voices suddenly overwhelming Ava as they echoed off the bare stone walls. 

A hard slam on the wooden desk shut the clamour down faster than a nun maintaining silence. Mother Superion stood, placing both palms flat on the desk before her and leaning forward, hard eyes zeroing in on Ava.

“Start at the beginning. What happened in the tomb?”

Her words, whilst not unkind, came out harsh and commanding. This was the highest rank talking, not the person behind it. Nor was it any answer to any of her questions. Ava rolled her shoulders as she stalled, attempting to think of how to tell what had happened, but the feeling of the Halo caught her off guard again and she shifted uncomfortably. 

“When I phased through, I couldn’t see anything” Beatrice’s hand squeezed reassuringly “but he was there, waiting. He knew I was coming. Y’know, I always thought being paralysed was the scariest thing to happen to me, but breaking into an ancient sealed tomb and having Adriel waiting for me was pretty high up on the list.” she joked, trying to laugh it off, the way that she always would - humour and sarcasm was her defense after all, but again she felt Beatrice’s hand tighten and the closely guarded expressions on all the nuns’ faces was more telling than any reaction. They could see straight through her facade. 

“You called him a devil.” Beatrice says gently when Ava lulls. “How did you know?”

The thing about Sister Beatrice is that she _gets_ Ava. She helped her so much when she trained to phase through the twenty foot wall, she helped Ava get over her fear, she opened up to Ava and told her her darkest secret, she had been the first to accept Ava for who she was. Not for who she wasn’t. 

And so when Beatrice had asked that question, Ava didn’t even hesitate to answer. 

“He showed me.” she began quietly, thinking back to what she had seen. “It… it was like I was Areala. I was _dying_. I saw him, back then, he had the Halo, and there was a Tarask after him. The Halo must have been exposed for a while, he had to put it away, and Areala was just what he needed. The Halo wasn’t his. It never was. He stole it.”

Silence followed her words, the unspoken question lingering heavily in the air.

_Whose was it_?

Father Vincent’s betrayal was still raw within Ava, and she was sure that it was so within the others as well, especially Mary, but Ava didn’t want to reveal anymore without getting some answers herself. 

“So what happened when we went against him? The last thing I remember is you, Mary, charging the possessed.”

There was that hesitation again, the one that twisted inside Ava, making her nervous for the answers she desperately wanted, not that she showed the others that. Instead she just raised her eyebrows, indicating for someone to speak.

Finally, it was Beatrice who spoke.

“You went against Adriel.” her voice was emotionless, robotic, recounting events as they happened, objectively. “The possessed were overwhelming, they stopped us from getting to you. You were holding your own, but he managed to get past your defenses and knocked you down. I think you were hurt, you were holding your side when you got back to your feet.” her hand flexed, betraying her emotions. “But we were overwhelmed. There were so many possessed, and they just kept coming. You must have seen because there was a burst of light, and all the possessed had been exorcised. You had expended the Halo. You collapsed and Adriel went for the Halo. As he reached for it, you brought the sword up and cut his hand off.”

Ava’s eyebrows shot up, a smile coming to her face. “Fuck yeah!”

Lilith glared at Ava. “Do you have any idea what this means?” she growled out, not even bothering to mask her frustration towards Ava. “He already wanted the Halo, and was just going to kill you to get it. Now...now you’ve made it personal.”

Ava scoffs. “It was personal the moment I had this thing put in me.”

Sensing the inevitable fight between the two, Mary leant forwards. “Maybe so, but now he will go out of his way to hurt you. He will draw your suffering out and make you beg for death.”

Beatrice’s fingers twitched but she remained silent. Ava looked at the women surrounding her. These were people she hadn’t met until recently, her friends, her protectors, her _family_. It had been so long since she had lost her mother - her paralysis had drained all hope and faith from her body - that she had forgotten what it was like to have that sense of belonging. And now they were at risk because of her. They were the ones who were going to suffer. Adriel would come for them too. She didn’t want any of them to suffer for what she did.

“We have all dedicated our lives to this fight” Beatrice said, seemingly knowing what Ava was thinking, as she always seemed to do. “And we will protect you and fight with you. In this life or the next.”

“Let’s try to keep it in this life.” Ava said shakily. “So I cut off that motherfucker’s hand. Then what happened?”

“Language!” Mother Superion admonished, almost absentmindedly.

“We managed to escape when Adriel retreated.” Mary continued. “Beatrice and I carried you out and we came back here. That was two days ago.”

“Two days?” the others nodded. “Do we have a plan?”

“We thought maybe you might have one.” Camila said.

“Me? I don't even have a ‘pl’.” Ava leant back, more into Beatrice, relishing in her presence, grounding herself to her solid form. “Ok this is a lot. I… I just need to think.” 

“Of course.” Mother Superion said, standing and everyone else followed suit. “You may take the day to recuperate, and to train, if you see fit, but I would speak with you tomorrow.”

Ava nodded, glad to stand and escape the now claustrophobic red study. She was hungry, but she wanted to breathe fresh air, to escape the walls for a moment. She wanted that moment of freedom. She had spent enough of her life inside, and after seeing Adriel’s tomb, she didn’t quite enjoy the idea of being indoors any longer than necessary.

It was hot outside, but Ava welcomed the feeling of the sun on her face. She was overwhelmed and her fight or flight instinct was angling towards flight, the temptation in her to run, to just run from it all, but her friends, her family, they were too important to her to leave behind. Not to mention Adriel was out there somewhere, with a personal vendetta against her.

“Ava.” Turning, she saw Beatrice and the others approaching.

“Oh, hey.” 

“We understand it is a lot to take in,” Camila said gently.

“And we won’t judge you if you want to stop.” Lilith said.

“Stop?” that had never been an option before. Not so long as she had the Halo.

“If you wanted. We wouldn’t hold it against you. The Halo is a large responsibility to bear.” Mary added. “It’s not for everyone.”

_Ah_. 

“Talking from the perspective of someone who nearly had it ripped out days ago, I don't think that’s an option.” Ava said, shrugging. The Halo seemed to shift at the mention of being removed and Ava flinched before rolling her shoulders. 

“But you got to Adriel before he got to you…?” Beatrice seemed confused. 

“What? Oh no in the tomb. He, I don't know, he reached inside me and tried to take it. I don’t think I would survive it coming out of me. Not when I was dead when it went in.”

Beatrice’s back straightened and the others looked at her aghast. 

“What?” The look of horror on Mary’s face seemed out of place. She was always so confident and… angry. “Why didn’t you tell us that sooner?”

Ava blinked. “I don't know. I didn’t think about it really. What’s the big deal anyway?”

“He could have killed you.” Beatrice said quietly, offended at Ava’s lack of concern for herself. 

“But he didn’t.” Ava said pointedly. “Look. Adriel is our main concern, and I’m not going to give up. I said that I didn’t want there to be anymore of, well, of all this, and I meant it. I’m not going to stop because things changed. So we thought the bad guy was one powerful old white dude, and it turned out to be a different powerful old white dude. Our goal had been to destroy the bones - demons’ tether to our world. And it still is. We just have to find a way to defeat Adriel.”

_Yes. This is good leading right?_

“There are OCS branches across the world, but only one Halo Bearer?” the nuns nodded, wondering where Ava was going with this. “And the only way to get to demons and devils is with divinium.” Again they nodded. “Well, I think we might need a Hell of a lot more of it.”

Mary smirked at Ava. “It sounds like you might have a plan after all.”


	2. Proverbs 18:21

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 'The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit.'

“So  _ that’s  _ your plan?” Mother Superion raised her eyebrow, challengingly. 

Ava didn’t even flinch. “I think we should at least  _ talk  _ to Jillian Salvius. She is the one who has scientifically studied Divinium the most, after all.”

“But it is a holy material.”

_ And here comes the Catholic stubbornness _ . Ava had come to expect to be challenged in most aspects of her decisions and it was no different now.

“Is it? Because it came from Adriel and forms the bones of the Tarask…”

“I don’t think I like what you’re implying.” There was an edge to Mother Superion’s tone, a knife held, concealed, to the throat. Ava knew that tone. Sister Frances had used it on her often enough back in the orphanage when she had ‘blasphemed’ and ‘desecrated the image of the Lord’. She hadn't cared back then. She hadn’t known the truth back then, of demons, and Halos, and God.

“Look, I’m not trying to disprove religion or the OCS or anything, but you’ve got to admit that it makes sense. Divinium can hurt me, I can’t phase through it, it can kill demons. It came from Adriel, for Christ’s sake.” Mother Superion opened her mouth, no doubt about to admonish Ava for her language, but Ava wasn’t finished and didn’t give the elder the chance to speak. “All I’m saying is that it  _ might  _ be a demonic substance. But if the Halo exists, then there might be, I don’t know, an angelic form of Divinium somewhere?”

Mother Superion frowned, her scar deepening as she did so. She rested her forearms on the desk before her, quietly contemplating what Ava had said. Ava might have been the newest “recruit”, and was definitely the least holy of them all, mentally, but she was the Halo-Bearer, and if the Halo had chosen someone like her, and had rejected herself, she had no choice but to listen.

“What you are saying contradicts hundreds of years of our work, our  _ dedication _ . If you were to repeat this to anyone, especially Pope Duretti… well, be warned, you are dancing dangerously close to heresy.”

_ Then I shall bring the music _ , Ava thought, unafraid of the Pope and his power. “I’m not contradicting the OCS at all. Doesn’t the Bible say that ‘a sword wields no strength unless the hand that holds it has courage’?” 

Ava knew that the Bible said no such thing, rather it was a quote from a video game that Diego had played. But she hoped that Mother Superion wasn’t aware of that.

“I’m not familiar with that teaching, although I understand the sentiment.” She sighed, resigned to Ava’s point of view. “Go. Speak with Salvius, but for now, we do not alert other members of the OCS, both externally, and internally. After Father Vincent’s betrayal, I fear that there are those who we can no longer trust.”

* * *

Lilith circled Ava, like a predator waiting for its wounded kill to die. They were both armed with sticks, and whilst Ava could hold her own, to an extent, Lilith was fast, faster than any human, and there was no doubt that her strength had increased. Behind her, she knew Mary kept to her blind spots, striking when Lilith distracted her. Whilst Mary preferred her shotguns, she was still incredibly skilled in hand to hand combat and combined with her badass attitude meant that she didn’t pull her punches.

After over an hour of very little success, Ava was sore and irritable. Yes, she healed quickly, and could phase through a lot of the attacks, but muscles she had forgotten she had ached, and despite healing, getting repeatedly hit with a stick would have worn anyone down. 

After attempting to block an attack from Mary, Lilith struck, cracking Ava round the head, just as Mary spun and knocked Ava’s legs out from under her, sending her crashing to the floor. Again. She groaned, refusing to move until there was one part of her that didn’t hurt. The Halo was getting heavier, and as Ava lay there, it felt like she was being dragged down by it. From the corner of her eye, she saw Beatrice and Camila approach, having clearly seen the poor attempt at her training. Ava wasn’t sure if her flush was from exertion or embarrassment.

“You need to keep up your defences if you plan on going against any other demons.” Lilith said smugly, twirling her stick around. 

Ava didn’t immediately respond. The Halo had already reacted to her adrenaline, and the flash of anger at Lilth’s word had affected the Halo and she felt it’s heat searing, almost painfully, through her. It took her breath away and she was completely immobile, held down by the sheer weight of it.

Lilith frowned. “Maybe you aren’t ready to be up and training yet.” her words were neutral, which was somehow more grating to Ava. It wasn’t that she was struggling, per se, but she was isolated, unsure of how to speak to anyone about the change in the Halo. They already thought she was incompetent, not that they weren’t willing to help, but she didn’t need to give them any more reason to think that. 

“I’m fine. It’s just Sister Act didn’t prepare me for this shit, y’know?” Ava managed to sit up, crossing her legs under her. Her posture was so reminiscent of childlike stubbornness that Lilith scoffed. “Look I’m trying ok!” she snarked, annoyed. “I haven’t trained since birth to be, well,” she gestured at Lilith, “whatever we’re pretending Lilith isn’t. Like are we really going to brush over everything?” Ava turned to Mary, who raised a challenging eyebrow at her. “And I don’t even know how many times you’ve threatened to shoot me.”

Mary rolled her eyes. “God you are  _ such  _ a  _ child _ ! And a sore loser. Remind me to never play anything with you.”

Ava raised an eyebrow. “I didn’t realise ‘play’ was even in your vocabulary.”

“You cannot seriously expect to be able to fight any demon, let alone Adriel, if this is your attitude about  _ your  _ skill set?” Whilst her words weren’t necessarily mean or angry, Lilith was frustrated at Ava. She knew of her potential, of the burden behind the power. But affection had never been Lilith’s forte.

Ava was just about to argue with Lilith when Mother Superion stepped forward, making Ava jump. 

“Jesus! What were you doing? Hiding in the shadows?”

Mother Superion quirked an eyebrow. “You should know by now I am Mother Superion, not Jesus Christ.” Ava rolled her eyes. “Thank you, Sister Lilith, Mary, for your patience with her, but it would seem that she is being difficult as ever.”

_ You know I’m right here _ , Ava frowned.

“Sister Beatrice, if you would relieve them?”

“Of course, Mother Superion.” Beatrice inclined her head.

Ava didn’t look up as the others left. She could hear quiet words of condolences spoken to Beatrice. She missed the pointed look Camila gave Beatrice as she left. She felt bad - she knew that she had lashed out - but she was frustrated and tired and stressed. Even so, she couldn’t bring herself to look at Beatrice, not wanting to see whatever expression was on her face.

But patience was never really Ava’s strong suit and when a few minutes of silence had passed, she brought her eyes up to meet Beatrice’s warm ones. The warrior nun was gazing at Ava with a mixture of amusement crossed with frustration, looking as if she was about to admonish her. Not that she didn’t deserve it. 

Ava sighed and flopped backwards, lying back down on the training mat. “I know.” she said, defeated, glancing up to where Beatrice stood above her. 

Beatrice hesitated, staring down at Ava, face blank as she thought. After a moment, she sat down on the floor next to Ava’s beaten form. She smiled gently at the other girl, mildly amused by her behaviour. Having Ava around had certainly been a breath of fresh air - she was the complete opposite to Sister Shannon, hardly ever taking anything seriously. Her self-proclaimed ‘default’. 

“Do you want to talk about it?”

“Do you want to listen to it?” Ava’s response was instant, thoughtless, a pure reaction. As her mind caught up with her mouth, Ava blew out a deep breath and looked at Beatrice, who raised an eyebrow at her to continue. Ava didn’t know what to say, she had never really been one for emotional truths. “I  _ am  _ trying, y’know. This is all still so new to me. It’s just, something feels different now. The  _ Halo  _ feels different now.”

Beatrice frowned. “Different? Different how?”

Ava paused, thinking of the best way to phrase it. “It’s, I can feel it now. I think its power is changing.”

Beatrice hesitated, knowing what she needed to ask, but not wanting the answer. Her face was impassive, but Ava had come to notice the little things about her and there was worry flickering through her eyes. 

“Did you notice this after everything with Adriel?” she asked, and at Ava’s raised eyebrow, realised she needed to clarify. “After… after he tried to take the Halo.”

“Oh.” in a moment of vulnerability, Ava suddenly looked younger and afraid, but then she smiled with that cocky smirk. “I guess? What I remember of that day is a bit of a blur. Although…”

“Although?” Beatrice prompted Ava to continue.

“I do remember a certain warrior nun saying ‘what the fuck’...”

Beatrice blinked, lips twitching into a smile that she tried to suppress. “I have no idea what you’re talking about. No nun would use language such as that.”

Ava chuckled and pushed herself to sit up again, shoving Beatrice playfully as she did so. “Sure.” she drawled and Beatrice laughed quietly, fluidly getting to her feet and holding her hand out to Ava. Grinning, Ava took her hand and let Beatrice pull her to her feet. She tried not to notice how warm Beatrice’s hand was, how it was strong, yet gentle, calloused from years of weapons training. 

Beatrice let out a shaky breath, face flushed as Ava fell into her personal space.

“I thought I was supposed to be the super strong one.” Ava laughed breathlessly, eyes lingering on Beatrice’s as she steadied herself with a hand on the other girl’s shoulder. 

Beatrice smiled, trying to ignore how fast her heart was beating. She must have stood up too fast. Right? When a moment too long had passed, Beatrice spun out of Ava’s hands, knocking the other girl’s legs out from under her.

Ava landed hard, her breath knocked out of her. “Jesus what was that for?”

“I am meant to be training you after all.” Beatrice raised an eyebrow. As Ava stared at her in mock betrayal, Beatrice said. “This is the part where you’re supposed to fight back.”

Ava grunted. “Ugh you think you’re  _ so  _ clever.”

Beatrice smirked. “We both know I am.”

As quickly as she could, Ava pushed herself up, aiming a strike at Beatrice, knowing full well that the girl could take it. As expected, Beatrice blocked with ease. “You’re impulsive.” she said, pulling her arm and Ava tumbled forwards, tripping over her own feet. In an instant, Beatrice had flipped the girl over her shoulder, slamming her back onto her back. Ava reacted and wrapped her legs around Beatrice’s waist, thrusting her hips upwards and knocking Beatrice off balance, bringing her down on top of her. Ava used the momentum of the fall and and twisted, pinning Beatrice beneath her, amused at the momentary shock that flashed across her face. There was a beat, both girls staring at one another breathlessly.

Beatrice tried to not focus on Ava’s weight, pinning her down. She tried not to notice the stray hairs that fell about her face, framing her features. She tried not to notice how her dark eyes shone, whether it was from mischief or something else, she couldn’t tell. She desperately tried to ignore the feeling of Ava’s thighs straddling her hips.  _ That  _ was too sinful and in a flash, Beatrice had flipped them, pressing Ava into the training mat, holding her hands above her head, securing her hips beneath her own.

“You react.” Beatrice said, face a few inches from Ava’s. “You don’t anticipate the attack, you take it and retaliate.” Ava shifted, trying to displace Beatrice, couldn’t. “You might be able to heal faster than others, but your carelessness will be your downfall.”

And then the weight was gone. Beatrice was back on her feet, back to Ava as she adjusted her robes.

“Well I wasn’t exactly much of a fighter growing up.” Ava huffed as she pushed herself to her feet, rolling her shoulders against the feeling of the Halo. 

“Quite the contrary. You fought harder than most.” Beatrice looked at Ava pointedly. “You can either keep making excuses and prolong your progress, or you can recognise your shortcomings and overcome them.”

Ava pouted. “Alright Sister Snatched.” Beatrice raised an eyebrow in confusion but seemed to think better of asking and took up a fighting stance facing Ava. Blinking, Ava raised her fists, attempting to mirror Beatrice’s body. Instead, the other just sighed.

“You’re not fighting anyone like that.”

Ava scoffed. “Says who?”

Beatrice approached and Ava tensed. However, all Beatrice did was push her shoulder slightly and Ava had to step back to accommodate. “You see? You have no balance. I’m not even trying and you had to step back.” Ava looked down at herself and Beatrice sighed again, seeming to weigh up something in her mind. “Here.” she walked behind Ava, who tried to crane her neck to see where Beatrice was - she’d had her legs taken out from under her a few too many times - and the other stopped directly behind her, close enough for Ava to feel her breath against the back of her neck. “You need to move your legs,” she nudged one back and the other forward with her own legs, “and here your arms” she stepped up close, her front pressed into Ava’s back and she reached around, gently lifting her arms higher with her fingertips so that Ava’s fists were in line with her face, “there.” 

Both girls remained there for a moment before Beatrice drew back, her hands gliding along Ava’s forearms unintentionally. She took a step away from Ava, taking a deep breath as she did so. Ava’s face felt warm, and she put it down to Beatrice’s body heat. Again the Halo pulsed and Ava rolled her shoulders against the sensation, cracking her neck slightly afterwards. Focusing, Ava raised her fists to where Beatrice had positioned them and looked at the other challengingly.

“Try me.”

Whether or not Beatrice hesitated, Ava couldn’t tell, but the nun stepped forward and again pushed at her shoulder, only Ava was grounded and held her position.

“Well,” Beatrice said with a smirk, “It’s a start.”

“Would you say it’s… out _ stand _ ing?”

Beatrice closed her eyes with the barest hint of a smile and turned, and Ava quickly found herself sprawled back on the floor again.

**Author's Note:**

> welp, this is a thing now


End file.
